Stange - 1940s Project

8/12/2019 Stange - 1940s Project

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1940s PROJECT

MUSIC AND FOOD ON THE HOME FRONT

An important aspect of the study of World War II is analyzing what happened on the Home Front-

American society at home in the United States as opposed to the military and political events of the war.

For this project we turn our attention to two of the most important aspects of life on the Home Front

music and food. Because of the radio and movies music was a nation-wide diversion. The entirecountry listened and danced to much of the same music. Food was an important concern primarily

because of food rationing imposed by the government.

In this project, which has both group and individual aspects, we will bring war-time music and food to

Athens High School.

I have prepared a list of popular war-time songs. Each group will, in random order, choose a song and

then present a performance of it. Unlike today, popular songs then were often recorded by many

different artists soon after the song became popular. Therefore, in researching the songs, you may find

other artists, different from the one I have provided, performing the song. You are to use the artists

version that I have designated.

I will discuss the project in general and then provide you the detailed list of what is required.

Unit Objectives:

1. Learn more about the role of civilians in the war effort.

2. Discover artifacts from the World War II era and formulate theories on the Home Front from them.

3. Calculate why food and song are integral to the success of the Home Front.

4. Analyze the intent of the artist and performer for the song selected by the student group.

5. Defend the effectiveness of the food or song on the Home Front AND the overall war effort.

6. Discover the innovative ways Americans rationed goods AND experimented with replacements.

7. Summarize the effectiveness of the rationing program.

Skills:

-Differentiate, defend and demonstrate the importance of primary and secondary source documents for

the World War II era.

-Express and defend issues/matters that affected the Home Front.

-Use of evidence to formulate reasoned conclusions.


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SONG PORTION:

You will either: 1. Prepare and present to the class a group performance of the song with your own

choreography but using the exact lyrics and music of the artists version. OR- 2. Find a performance of

the song (I know for a fact that they all are on YouTube) that I can play for the class.

You will prepare a poster offering the recording of the song for sale.

You will provide me with a copy of the lyrics for the song (again, I have already checked and the lyrics for

each song are available).

You will provide me with a history of the song and a short biography of the artist.

You will, individually, provide me with a report analyzing the song and how it relates to the war.

FOOD PORTION:

Each group will prepare a food, based on a war-time recipe, suitable for eating by the class. We will do

this as we view the performances of the songs.

Recipes will be chosen, in random order, from a group of recipes that I will provide.

You will, individually, provide me with a report on the food.

The following are the detailed requirements:

A. SONGS:

1. The poster must be on tag board, 18 inches by 24 inches.

2. The poster must contain the names of the song AND the artist provided on your slip.

3. You must provide a simple slogan advertising the song, indicating that it is available. You may be as

creative as you wish in pushing the sale.4. The poster must indicate where the song is available - a real music store or department store that

existed in 1940-1945. It can be in any city, but you must provide me with computerized proof of the

store and its address in that time period.

5. The address of the store must be as it would have been during the war (hint: zip codes were not

used in addresses until the early 1960s and 2-letter state abbreviations (WI) were not used until long

after the war).

6. You may or may not include the phone number of the store but if you do so it should be written as it

would have been then (for example, Plaza 6-5432, Athens phone numbers were Clifford 7-1234 not 257-

1234).

7. You must provide computerized proof of the phone number (if used).

8. The background of the poster should be appropriate to the song and the era and may be drawn or

made up of photos (regular sized or enlarged) or computerized images from the era.

The goal of the poster is to advertise effectively the song as you would have done if you were selling it

at the time.

9. The group must provide a written report on the songs history and a short biography of the artist.

10. The group must provide me with a copy of the songs lyrics.

11. The group must either: a Prepare and present to the class a performance of the song with your

own choreography but using the exact lyrics and music of the artists version (you may sing along with

the artist ORlip synch to the song as recorded). If your group chooses this option, I must be notified one


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week in advance of the presentation and you can then tell me of any props you may need.OR- 2.

Present a video performance of the song. One week in advance the group must provide me with the

YouTube information. One member of the group will be required to introduce the song.

12. Each individual must provide me with a written report describing how the song relates to the war

and the war effort and also his/her opinion of the song. In describing how it relates to the war you must

cite and explain two (2) exact quotes from the lyrics and show how they refer to the war and not to

something else.

14. Multi-group Sing-along. Each group must practice Well Meet Again by Vera Lynn. We will all sing

that in a multi-group sing-along in each hour.

B. FOOD:

1. Each group must prepare a war-time food to be served to the class and there must be enough of it to

serve the entire class and me. Each groups recipe will be chosen, in random order, from a group of

recipes provided by me.

2. Each group must provide a name card to place by the food while it is being served.

3. One group member must introduce the food to the class describing it and its ingredients, noting

any particular wartime aspects of it.

4. Each individual mustprovide me with a written report analyzing the food, including the following: Didyou like it?-How difficult was it to prepare?-Have you ever tasted anything like it before?-Would you

make it again?-How was it prepared differently, if at all, from how a modern version would be

prepared?-etc.

EXTRA INCENTIVE for Songs

Although this may seem like ancient history, in fact, one of the solo artists is still living and

one member of a group just died in 2013! If you can tell me the names of those two (2)

persons you and your group will win candy AND the right to be the first group to choose its

song. I will accept your answers at any time, starting now! ALL ANSWERS MUST BE SENT TO

MY SCHOOL EMAIL ([email protected])
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

Documents

Stange - 1940s Project